Stock Focus: Petrobras (PBR) Update

Posted on May 6, 2008 - Filed Under Stocks | Leave a Comment

Back in January we wrote about Petrobras (PBR) which is Brazil’s largest oil company. The in oil prices has helped propel Petrobras upwards, and the stock has doubled since labor day. It is up about 25% since we recommended it!

What is intriguing to many investors is that Petrobras has two class of stock, the main PBR stock as well as a class A (PBR-A). The only difference between the two classes is that the A shares have no voting rights.

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Buying Stock without using a Broker

Posted on April 25, 2008 - Filed Under Stocks | Leave a Comment

Even though the most popular way to buy and sell investments is to open a brokerage account it is not a necessity when it comes to buying stock. A lot of people that invest do not know that there are alternatives in the way that they buy stocks and mutual funds. Working with a reputable broker has some advantages it can be better, in certain cases, to buy stock directly without using a broker.

Here are three ways that you can buy direct stock without using a broker.

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GE Warns Again Of Tough Times

Posted on April 24, 2008 - Filed Under Stocks | Leave a Comment

Less than two weeks after General Electric (GE) shocked investors by reporting a 6% loss in first-quarter profits, CEO Jeff Immelt said Wednesday that he sees “even more difficult times ahead” for the economy.
GE’s first-quarter earnings report triggered a plunge that wiped out more than $46 billion of its market capitalization and saw the company’s stock fall nearly 13%.

The earnings report surprised many analysts because Immelt has promised investors in March that the company would achieve a 10% earnings rise in 2008. After this month’s drop in earnings, GE lowered its projected earnings to 5% or less

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5 Stocks to Buy Today

Posted on April 10, 2008 - Filed Under Stocks | Leave a Comment

Money Magazine had an interesting feature recently where they identified five blue chip stocks to buy today. Unfortunately, Money does not say what they based there decision on, other than he best way to boost your long-term returns is to buy stocks when prices are cheap. How is that for research?

Anyway, the five stocks they identified are:

3M
Ticker: MMM
Share price: $ 79.59
P/E ratio: 14.24
Its products are diverse, and 3M gets almost two-thirds of its sales internationally. Earnings are projected to grow 10% in 2008 and to average 11% annually over the next five years. And dividends have been rock-solid for half a century (current yield: 2.6%).

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Eight Foreign Stocks To Buy

Posted on April 1, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment

Fortune has an interesting section on 40 stocks to retire on. Fortune focused on companies whose shares appear cheapest relative to their long-term growth prospects. They combed through SEC filings, scoured analyst reports, and grilled large shareholders. They also favored stocks that are also owned by fund managers with demonstrated records of success. As a result their picks are large companies that all trade on the NYSE.

Company (Ticker symbol)	Current price	52-wk high	52-wk low	P/E ratio	Div Yield	Earnings growth
Diageo (DEO)	$84.79	$93.12	$73.39	23.4	2.9%	11%
Novartis (NVS)	$51.37	$59.17	$46.64	17.5	1.7%	12%

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Tough Days For Retailers

Posted on March 30, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment

We can argue whether we are in a recession or an economic slowdown, but what is unarguable is that the economy is slowing and that means that Q1 earnings for a lot of companies are going to be disappointing.

J.C. Penney on Friday became the latest retailer to announce that Q1 earnings and sales will be below expectations? J.C. Penney followed other retailers that have reduced their earnings outlook include Wal-Mart (WMT), TJX Companies (TJX), Kohl’s, (KSS) Nordstrom (JWN) and Limited Brands (LTD).

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Making Money in Oil

Posted on January 10, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment

The price of oil has risen for six straight years. The average price of a barrel of oil in 2007 was $72 a barrel. A new record.
What investors want to know is whether oil prices have peaked or whether there are still opportunities in the market to make money?

Paul Horsnell, a former Oxford economics lecturer who has spent 11 years as assistant director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies doesn’t see any reason for oil prices to fall. He thinks we will probably be stuck with today’s high price levels next year and that oil prices will spend some time trading above the yet-to-be-pierced $100 per barrel. He is confident that 2008 will be the seventh straight year of price increases.

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Stock Focus: Petrobras (PBR)

Posted on January 2, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment

Oil prices continue to rise and show no sign of dramatically falling any time soon. While many investors are focused on the big oil companies like Mobil and Royal Dutch, I believe that the smaller oil companies offer the best potential for growth.

The Hottest Fund Manager in America - a.k.a. CGM’s Ken Heebner - laid out an argument that $100 oil is not only coming but will be here to stay. “There is still strong growth in Latin America, China, India, and a host of smaller countries like Poland and Thailand,” he says. That means a need for some 1.5 million more barrels of oil a day.

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Stock Focus: Genentech (DNA)

Posted on January 1, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | 1 Comment

Biotech stocks like Genentech have interested me since reading Michael Crichton’s book NEXT.

Once the darlings of biotech investors, Genentech shares have been in a prolonged slump since topping out at $96 in 2005. But the company itself remains a standout, and recent news provides the opportunity to buy the shares at a discount. On Dec. 5, the stock was pounded, plunging 10% in a few hours. The reason: An FDA advisory panel voted against expanding the use of Avastin - a blockbuster Genentech drug already approved to treat colon and lung cancer - for breast cancer.

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Stock Focus: Electronic Arts (ERTS)

Posted on December 31, 2007 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment

If you tried to get a Wii this holiday season then you understand that if there’s one tech niche that should be immune to a slowdown, it’s videogames. Videogame sales rose 39% in October, according to the NPD Group, after a 64% rise in September.

Electronic Arts stock has stagnated since 2004, with earnings falling and critics charging that EA was too reliant on aging franchises like Madden N FL. But things started to look up in early 2007 when ex-president John Riccitiello returned as CEO. Riccitiello reorganized EA into four divisions and spent $860 million to acquire BioWare and Pandemic, two smaller game studios that improved EA’s lineup.

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